North Muskegon Choirs - Norse Beats at the Frauenthal April 20th and 21st

We're crossing the Causeway....or...wait a minute....maybe they are crossing the Causeway?  The North Muskegon Choir is ready for their spring show and we're all in on a great weekend of entertainment at the Frauenthal this Friday and Saturday night.  Norse Beats is the production this year and to present the show on the grandest of stages in all of our area, it can be the only way! 

 

 

Norse Beats is a production of the entire school at North Muskegon.  Another really great thing about this production is how the students in choir work across the "age gap" to support one another in their endeavors and to help nurture the performance no matter the grade they are in.  At North Muskegon, with the Middle and High School in one building, it's an experience that's rather unique to the learning experience.  Where there's that cut off when a kid advances on, it's not quite as pronounced at North Muskegon and the retention of the kids in the building is a little easier as they navigate the teen years and work to find their calling.  In the choir, they are able to have the upperclassmen work with the newer kids as mentors and guides, and that was apparent in the rehearsal as the Choir instructor Beth Slimko reminded some of the younger kids that their older counterparts are not "bossing you around, they are helping guide you to what needs to be done".

The level of competition in Muskegon for the arts in schools is very healthy.  It's a good thing too.  A well rounded education includes so much more than reading, writing and arithmetic.  Yes, the basics are still the staples and the STEM education is taking up more and more of the time, but the creativity and use of expression are key in so many areas and the arts help foster that in young people.  Even if they are not destined to be in the limelight on a stage somewhere, someday, they will have the idea in their back pocket that at one point, they got up on a stage and sang, so maybe talking in front of a group won't be so bad.  It's a refined balance they are sneaking in on our students....and they are having fun doing it.

I met up with Riley McAvoy and Marilyn Gaston who are in the choir just before the rehearsal began at the Frau to learn a little more about how this program has enhanced their school career and we also hung around to give you a peek of the opening number, enjoy! 

TICKETS TICKETS TICKETS!  Get ya some and enjoy the performance this weekend Downtown Muskegon at the Frauenthal.  Our thanks to Beth Slimko for the invite out to hear about this years show.